The H1-B Visa

What is H1-B?

In order to work in the US, you need to get an H1-B visa. In official term, it is called a non-immigration visa as it only allows you to work in the US for a certain period, which is initially up to 3 years and then extendable for another 3 years. Getting an H1-B is much quicker and easier than applying for a green card, and thus most US companies employ non-US employees using an H1-B instead of filing an immigration from the beginning.

You cannot apply for an H1-B visa for yourself. H1-B can only be filed by the employer. Many large companies have their own lawyers and staffs whose roles are fully dedicated to the employment and visa-sponsoring process for non-US employees. In that case, they do everything on their own, and you don't need to take care of the procedure. However, small companies normally have little experience in those procedures, and it is not unusual that you are asked to arrange an immigration lawyer on your own and find out what kind of paperwork the company needs to do. In either case, the company is applying for the visa, not you.

H1-B Cap (Annual Quota)

The H1-B visa may be subject to an annual quota (called cap). Currently, the cap is 65,000, and there is additional 20,000 for people who have received a master's degree from a US university. The total cap is 85,000. Normally, all quota is filled quickly and as a result, in some time in the year (normally April to October) it is open, and some other time in the year (after October until March) it is not. The H1-B applications for a Fiscal Year are accepted from April 1 of the previous year, and the employment can actually start on October 1. For instance, if you want to start working in the year 2008, your employer can apply for the H1-B visa for you from April 1, 2006, and you can start working from October 1, 2006. The quota will likely expire some time in the late 2006. So, if you lose the timing, you will not be able to get a chance to start working in 2007. However, jobs in the government and non-profit sector are not subject to the quota. So, if you look for a job at a non-profit organization, for instance, at a university, then you do not need to worry about the cap.

Requirements for H1-B

Normally, the H1-B is for "speciality occupations" which is requiring a high level of specialized knowledge. The requirement is roughly equivalent to US 4-year bachelor's degree, but 3 years of experience can substitute for 1 year of college-level education. Thus, 12 years of experience can be qualify for the requirements. In case of professional occupations such as lawyers, doctors, nurses, and accountants, they must be licensed to practice in the US.

Beside the H1-B, there is another type of working visa, which is H2-B designed for positions that do not fall under the speciality occupations category. The good thing about H2-B is that the qualification/experience requirement is much lower than that of H1-B, so people who do not have a bachelor's degree may qualify. However, the disadvantage of H2-B is that it requires a "Labor Cerificate" that is a long and expensive proceess of proving that the employer has failed to find an equivalent US-worker. Unlike the 3-year H1-B, H2-B is strictly for 1 year, and can be extended on a yearly basis, up to maximum 3 years.

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